159 



laboration of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Bel- 

 gium which had characterized the wartime atom bomb project. The 

 only cooperation remaining after 1946 was in exploration for and pro- 

 curement of uranium ores needed for the continuing nuclear weapons 

 program of the United States. The restrictions on technical assistance 

 were relaxed slightly in 1951 by an amendment to the Act 57 which 

 authorized the Atomic Energy Commission to exchange certain infor- 

 mation with other countries about the "refining, purification and sub- 

 sequent treatment of source materials, reactor development, production 

 of fissionable material, and research and development related to the 

 foregoing." Canada was a primary beneficiary of this amendment. The 

 Canadians had continued to transmit information on nuclear energy to 

 the United States despite U.S. restrictions upon information in 

 exchange. After this amendment, the United States was able to provide 

 information to friendly nations that were beginning to show an interest 

 in civil nuclear energy. Notable among these countries was Belgium, 

 which still controlled large uranium deposits in the Belgian Congo. 



In this amendment, the Congress laid down four principles for U.S. 

 technical assistance in nuclear energy, principles that were to be in- 

 fluential when the Atomic Energy Act was rewritten in 1954. These 

 were : 



(1) A prohibition against communications of weapons design 

 and fabrication data ; 



(2) A requirement for adequate security standards in countries 

 receiving classified information ; 



(3) A determination by the President that the arrangements 

 would promote and would not endanger the common defense and 

 security; and 



(4) A requirement that the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy 

 be informed of the arrangement 30 days prior to its consum- 

 mation. 



The specification of these principles indicates ways the United 

 States can control its technical assistance to and cooperation with 

 other countries, ways which would not be possible were such assist- 

 ance to be channeled exclusively through an international organization. 

 The last principle also is of interest for it asserts congressional interest 

 in arrangements for furnishing technical assistance to nuclear indus- 

 tries abroad. During the early years of the technical assistance pro- 

 gram, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy closely examined the 

 individual agreements and their administration. The Joint Commit-, 

 tee on Atomic Energy held hearings on international agreements in 

 1964, 1965, and 1966. 



Congress gave fresh recognition to international cooperation in 

 nuclear energy when it revised the Atomic Energy Act in 1954. 5S One 

 of six statutory programs and objectives specified in the Act was a 

 "program of international cooperation to promote the common de- 

 fense and security and to make available to cooperating nations the 

 benefits of peaceful applications of atomic energy as widely as expand- 

 ing technology and considerations of the common defense and secu- 

 rity will permit." 59 



57 Public Law 82-235, 65 Stat. 692. 

 68 Public Law 83-703. 68 Stat. 919. 

 68 Sec. 3e. of P.L. 83-703. 



96-525 O - 77 - vol. 1 - 12 



